11/04/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today, with me Zeinab Badawi. Pope Francis uses

his strongest language yet to condemn child sexual abuse by

Catholic priests and asks for forgiveness. The Pope apologises for

the evil damage done to children by priests and says there will be

sanctions. If the Vatican at last answering criticisms that it has

done too little too late? TRANSLATION: We will not take one

step backward with regard to how we deal with this problem and the

sanctions that must be imposed. On the contrary, we have to be even

stronger. In South Africa Oscar Pistorius is

accused of repeatedly lying about what happened the night he killed

his girlfriend. We have the latest on the third day of his questioning

by the prosecution. Your version never happened and you

have to keep up with an untruth. On the road back to Afghanistan - an

exclusive report on a young girl who was wounded by a stray grenade and

heads home after getting treatment in the United States.

And should more of us follow the example of French technology workers

who have won the right not to be contacted by e-mail or phone by

their bosses for 11 hours a day? Hello and welcome. The child sexual

abuse scandal in the Catholic Church has been a stain on the reputation

of the Church for some time now. Today, Pope Francis moved to try to

address the criticisms. He has asked for personal forgiveness for the

evil committed by Roman Catholic priests who have abused children.

The Pope said the Church was conscious of the personal and moral

damage done, and said that those responsible must face sanctions.

However, he did not spell out just what those sanctions would be. We'll

be discussing whether his comments today go far enough. First, our Rome

correspondent Alan Johnston reports. The Pope was meeting a delegation

from the French Catholic Children's Organisation. Speaking off the cuff,

she turned to the issue of clerical child abuse and couched what he had

to say in quite personal terms. He said he felt compelled to take

responsibility for all the evil that some priests have committed. He said

he was asking for forgiveness for the damage caused by men of the

Church. TRANSLATION: We will not take one

step backward with regard to how we deal with this problem and the

sanctions that must be imposed. On the contrary, we have to be even

stronger, because you cannot interfere with children.

This new papacy is being widely seen as hugely successful in many ways.

With its down-to-earth style and strong focus on the poor and

marginalised, Francis has won admirers from far beyond the

traditional confines of Catholicism. But there has been some scathing

criticism of his approach to the child abuse scandal. Some argue that

he has not made the issue enough of a priority. But in these latest

remarks, Francis seemed to very publicly commit himself personally

to addressing the problem. And they're his strongest comments on

the matter so far. But for many victims of abuse, words will not be

sufficient. They are demanding much more action in the drive to root out

the sex crimes of the clergy. With me is Peter Saunders, the Chief

Executive and founder of the National Association of People

Abused in Childhood. And Fiona O'Reilly of Catholic Voices, a group

formed to give a Catholic perspective in the media. Fiona,

Pope Francis' works today, those works go further than any other

Pope? Benedict recognised that these were

awful crimes for which there can be no excuse. What is encouraging with

Pope Francis is that he is mentioning the need for sanctions.

Nobody is saying enough has been done, more still must be done, but

this is a Pope who gets it. I could not agree more. The Pope has

mentioned sanctions and we await to see what he means by that. He talks

about not going backwards and I think that is significant. There are

millions of survivors of abuse around the world. Abused at the

hands of clergy of the nominations, not just Catholic. But I do think

that Pope Francis is the man who appears to get it. I am hopeful.

But it is a watch and wait scenario and some organisations have said

that they need to know what the sanctions are. They say that unless

priests accused of abusing children are handed over to settle criminal

authorities, that that is what they want. There is no suggestion that

this is the kind of sanction the Pope is talking about, is the?

He made it very clear to all of the churches that they were compelled to

comply with local civil law and criminal law. In this country, an

abuser would be guilty of a criminal offence. In some countries, child

abuse is not actually an offence. What Pope Benedict did and what Pope

Francis is now building upon, is deconstructed the local bishop'

conferences to safeguard and bring to justice and bring healing to

victims. That is the reason I am here. I was also a victim of abuse

by priests as a child. There are many others. My concern is support

for the victims. There is a great deal more the Church can do. It has

a history of cover-ups. In many institutions, we are here at the

BBC, which now has many questions to answer over the Jimmy Savile

scandal. Your emphasis is on going for. But

also, acknowledging the pain carried by survivors. They have had bad

experiences. I have generally had good experiences in my dealings with

the Church and the charity I work for. But there are many survivors

have had the worst closed in the face. I hope Pope Francis will

ensure this does not happen. So, acknowledgement of what has

happened and prevention and protection. Yes. We have good child

protection laws in this country. It is care for victims in the past that

is the acid test. Other parts of the world need to deal with this also.

The vast majority of them will be supportive of what Pope Francis is

saying. Fiona, you implied that the fault is

not exactly with the Vatican but in countries with it is not a robust

enough judicial system to deal with child sex abuse. There was a report

by the UN recently which was damning of the Vatican and said that even

today, it is more concerned about protecting its own reputation rather

than protecting children. That there are still cases of abusing clerics

who are simply moved around from one Diocese to the other.

That still needs to be fully tackled. The real opportunity with

the UN report was that it ignored the good work that has been done. It

should have partnered with the Vatican to help them. Just to

dismiss it on the basis of factual inaccuracies... To come back to an

earlier point, one of the things implicit in comments was that the

church needs to respond. Part of the response must be informed by what is

helpful for victims. It is encouraging that the papal

commission has Cardinals on it, like Sean O'Malley from Boston, but also

Maria Collins, a survivor of sexual abuse he was treated disgracefully

by the Church. She is any good position to help the Move for from

this. I would have liked to have seen a few more survivors of abuse

on that commission that the Vatican set up. Many of us who have worked

with survivors, whether with clerical abuse or other forms of

abuse, have been disappointed. Very quickly, you said you are

hopeful those sanctions will be robust. What kind of sanctions do

you think Pope Francis should be dropped about? I hope he looks

carefully at the United Nations papers and the criticisms. I hope he

actively encourages bishops around the world, where they do have

information about this, to work with civil authorities to protect

children. Whatever it takes. That is what I hope he means by sanctions.

Thank you very much. The South African athlete, Oscar

Pistorius, has faced a third day of intense cross-examination at his

trial in Pretoria. The chief prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, accused him

of repeatedly lying in his testimony, giving his version of

events on the night he killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, last

year. Arriving for another challenging

morning in court, Oscar Pistorius repeatedly accused of lying about

how and why he shot Reeva Steenkamp. As usual, no video images of the

athlete were allowed. The prosecutor asked him why he did not talk to his

girlfriend and check where she was, the moment he felt they were both in

danger. When you heard the noise, you never

discussed it with her. I did not.

I asked whether you said that. Why not?

At one point, emotions got the better of him.

This is a person I cared about! Pistorius then argued that it was

instinct that prompted him to rush from the bedroom to the bathroom on

his stumps. I am not sure why I did it.

I find your instincts strange. The prosecutor was unconvinced,

insisting a reasonable man would have behaved differently and that

Reeva Steenkamp would have surely shouted out from the bathroom.

Did she scream while you shot her four times?

No. Are you sure? Did Reeva Steenkamp

scream after the first shot? The trial has been adjourned until

Monday. Our correspondent Milton Nkosi has

been following the case in Pretoria. It would seem that the focus this

week has been as much on Gerrie Nel, the chief prosecutor, as it has

been on Oscar Pistorius. Yes, that is correct. When this

trial began, the man of the moment was Oscar Pistorius's own defence

counsel, Barry Roux. He was the man on all the television channels and

in the newspapers. Now the tables have turned. The NL, really

prosecutor, -- Gerrie Nel, the lead prosecutor is in the forefront now.

Look at this newspaper headline. The times: And now the Bild newspaper.

This says "in the terrier's jaws" . The Star: Gerrie Nel is on the front

page there also. Gerrie Nel is known as the pill terrier for his

relentless style of cross-examination. He once kept a

witness for two weeks on the witness stand. He also successfully

prosecuted the former South African Police Service and. That was for

corruption. On Monday, Oscar Pistorius will return to the witness

stand for more tough questioning from Gerrie Nel.

Thank you very much. Now a looked at some of the day's

other news. A cyclone with winds of up to 230

kmph has hit coastal areas of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Residents and tourists had been fleeing the area as Tropical Cyclone

Ita drew nearer. The storm has already claimed the lives of twenty

three people when it barrelled over the Solomon Islands late last week.

The UN's refugee agency is helping Italy with refugees. The agency

wants the EU to help the process and arrivals, presiding -- providing

reception facilities. Many have been rescued in the past days.

The Japanese Government has approved an energy plan that backs the use of

nuclear power, despite public anxiety after the Fukushima

disaster. The plan reverses an earlier decision to phase out

nuclear power by a previous Government.

Several private newspapers in Myanmar - also known as Burma - have

printed black front pages in protest at the recent arrests and sentencing

of journalists. The move follows the conviction on Monday of a journalist

for the Democratic Voice of Burma. Zaw Pe was handed a one year prison

term for trespassing and disturbing a civil servant while doing a story

on education last year. In Ukraine, the interim Prime Minister is

meeting regional leaders in the east of the country on a mission to

defuse tensions and end the stand-off with pro-Russian

protesters. He is in Donetsk where pro-Russian activists hold a

government building. He arrived in eastern Ukraine amidst

a growing local crisis. Here is the focal point. The regional

administration building for Donetsk, which pro-Russian protesters have

occupied, declaring a People's Republic. You can see around me,

protesters, they have also occupied a building in another eastern

Ukrainian city. It seems quiet right now but there is an undercurrent of

tension. The interim Prime Minister met with regional political and

business leaders who gave him an earful. They demanded more money

from Kiev, regional autonomy, and equal status for the Russian

language. The key question was, what will Kiev do about pro-Russian

activists. The interim Prime Minister insisted they will not use

violence. We have made an offer. They are to leave the premises of

the state administration. Disarm. And we, the state of Ukraine, can

guarantee them that they will not be detained or arrested.

As you can see, these barricades are extensive. The protest is tell us

that they do not trust the new Ukrainian government in Kiev. The

question is, if talks fail and the stand-off continues, could this

eventually turn violent? The White House has said that the

United States will not be as UAVs to the man nominated by Iran to be its

next ambassador to the United Nations will stop -- issue a Visa.

He is linked to the group that's bombed the US embassy in 1979. --

that stormed. The White House has said today that

it will not grant a visa. It follows a week of concern from US officials

who say they have been talking to Iran to make it clear they were

unhappy with the choice nominee. What that effectively means, if the

Visa has not granted, is that it is a message from the US to Iran that

you need to choose somebody else. The misgivings are over his alleged

involvement in the Iran hostage crisis. He was a member of the

student group which stormed the embassy and help Americans hostage.

But he has maintained that his role was merely as a translator and the

ghost later, a peripheral role. The US say it does not affect ongoing

talks between the two countries over a nuclear enrichment programme. But

they do say it is a separate issue and talks will not be affected.

Thank you very much. Violence in Afghanistan has not only claimed

many lives it has also left many maimed for life. One young girl that

we were wounded by a stray grenade has returned home after treatment in

the USA. Seven-year-old Shabibi took the full force of a blast in a

region where villagers are constantly caught in the crossfire.

I first came across Shabibi just days after her tiny body was

shattered by a grenade in one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan.

Every day, children like her live in fear for their lives. She was one of

the fortunate few. Flown to America after a nurse raised the alarm, she

was treated for her injuries and has even been to school. But her family

were left behind, thousands of miles away. Today, I met her and her

guardian as she returned to Afghanistan. A country with an

uncertain future. With elections just last weekend security is tight.

She seemed fascinated by the streets of Kabul. Taliban, she says,

pointing to the men with guns. In fact, they are police. Finally, the

moment her father arrives. At first, Shabibi seems overwhelmed. Then the

intimacy returns after many months apart. I laughed and I cried when I

saw her. I feel deeply indebted to the people who helped. I am bursting

with happiness. I feel it in my heart, I cannot stop smiling.

She shows off what little English she has. I want to see my brother,

sister, and mother, she tells me, and teach them to write. In a

country dominated by images of war, this is a father is relief that his

daughter has survived. Most of us with mobile phones and

laptops are connected to the Internet during all of our waking

hours. An agreement between technology workers in France and

their bosses means there will now be entitled to at least 11 hours away

from work e-mails and phone calls. The idea is to create and Greece. --

create boundaries of how much they can be contacted outside of working

hours. It has prompted a debate about work -life balance in an age

of connectivity. I am joined by the founder of Idler the magazine, set

up to promote alternatives to the work ethic, freedom, and the fine

art of doing nothing! It is a lovely dream.

Do we all need to follow the example of these French technology workers?

They are sending out a positive message. Perhaps pitted against the

more extreme work ethic that you see in the United States. If you read

interviews with the Google CEOs and suchlike of this world, for them, it

is a status thing to be constantly connected. In the office at 7am, if

I needed whilst asleep, my blackberry is next to me, I think it

is an arid vision. But it is a globalised world. You

might be running a big empire with working hours elsewhere in the

world. In the news business, how business, something is always

happening. But you need your rest, your sleep!

I was just reading today that Charles Darwin had a period set

aside each day for idleness. For playing backgammon with his wife. He

was not switched on 24-7. On an individual level, everybody must

learn how to switch off. And learned that it is OK to do so.

Does it not necessarily matter when you switch off? For example, if you

are a working mother with small children, often you want to work

late at night or early morning when they are asleep, so what do you make

of that kind of ring, -- thing, not everybody has the same working

pattern? The flexible arrangement works very well. Switch off in the

afternoon, working the evening. People have different work rhythms.

I did awake until 1pm then fall asleep till about 5pm. A nice life

you have. Can I join you? Please do! I might catch up in the evening.

I look for distractions whilst writing, check my e-mails, get

active people efficiently, but they do practice what I preach. This

message, can resonate? There is so much unemployment. Careers,

competition, coming out of a recession, a tough job market.

People want to be connected all the time and impress their bosses and

employees. But there is also the fact that you can share the work

around. Employ more people during a shorter working week. That has been

trialled in Sweden. City workers will be given a 30 hour week on the

same pay. Because they say the 40 hour work is unproductive, half the

time you're not really working. There is a funny link between

idleness and efficiency. You can work fewer hours and be more

efficient, lots of studies back that up.

I don't take a leaf out of your book, but I am not going to sleep

just yet. A reminder of your main news. Pope Francis says he will take

personal responsibility for the abuses of priests, asking victims to

It looks as though the weekend will be half